Heathrow boss Colin Matthews: We're full so any snow will cause delays

Heathrow boss Colin Matthews today admitted the airport was powerless to stop disruption if it snows again this winter.

The chief executive apologised to passengers for the misery of delays and cancellation of hundreds of flights in recent days.

He vowed that the west London airport “could do better” to improve the passenger experience for those who suffer changes to their flight.

But he argued that severe weather such as snow would inevitably hit operations at the airport because it has no spare capacity to reschedule flights.

“I’m really sorry for every passenger who got caught up with the disruption and the cancellations,” he told BBC radio.

“The fact is when it snows we have to clear the snow off the runway. It takes us a little time and during that time we can land less aircraft and take off less aircraft than in normal conditions.

“Because we are full, any amount of snow is going to cause some disruption.”

He sought to defend the airport despite severe criticism over the lack of information for stranded travellers, passengers having to wait up to six hours on planes and unable to reclaim their bags after flights were cancelled.

But he also added: “There are opportunities to get better and we will continue to do so.”

He insisted that the airport had made significant improvements since 2010, when the airport ground to a partial halt during wintry weather, investing £36 million in snow clearing equipment since then.

The airport and airlines would do their utmost to minimise disruption, he added, but expanding the airport was the only solution to tackle its capacity constraints.

“It is full all day, every day - which is exactly why we have argued for the need for more capacity at London’s hub airport,” he said.